Reviews

Tulák Rover by J.R.R. Tolkien

jesssalexander's review against another edition

2.0

This teensy little thing took me forever to read because I kept falling asleep a page or two in. It's the story of a puppy named Rover who gets turned into a little toy by a magician and then has adventures with Rover the moon-dog up on the dark and light sides of the moon with the powerful wizard the-man-in-the-moon and then later has underwater adventures with Rover the mer-dog and the highly inept wizard who originally turned him into a toy. (The wizard had moved underwater because he'd married a mer-princess of course). Rover's name gets changed to Roverandom so the wizards don't get confused about who they are talking about. Some of the scenes are beautiful (the little dog flying up a moon beam or falling down through a hole until he has to climb up on the other side of the moon, the giant sea snake that's so big that when he moves in his sleep he makes hurricanes, Roverandum chasing his tail because he's surprised he can't find his wings). I'd be curious to read this to a kid (the intended audience) and gage their reaction. I struggle with finding kid's chapter books like this (I'm thinking the Narnia series) boring and hard to get through because the narrator's I'm-story-telling-to-a-child voice. But they are such twinkly gems of imagination!

readacorn's review against another edition

3.0

Beschreibung:

So beginnt für Roverandom ein unglaubliches Abenteuer. Die Suche nach dem Zauberer, der ihm seine alte Hundegestalt wiedergeben soll, führt Roverandom auf den Mond und tief hinunter ins Meer. Er trifft den Mann im Mond und tobt mit dessen geflügeltem Hund um den Mondturm, lauert den Mondstrahlen auf und weckt den fürchterlichen, grünes Feuer speienden Weißen Drachen. Zurück auf der Erde bringt ihn der weise Wal zum Schloß des Meerkönigs tief auf dem Boden des Ozeans. Die Geschichte vom kleinen Hund Roverandom gehört zum schönsten, was Tolkien je geschrieben hat. Er selbst sah sie als Folgeband zum »Hobbit«. Ein Anhang gibt Auskunft über die Entstehung der Geschichte und der Bilder, die Tolkien zur Illustrierung gemalt hat. 


Kurzmeinung

Ich mag den Stil der Erzählung. Sätze wie "Dieser hier war ein Zauberer, der, der jetzt in die Geschichte hineinspazierte." finde ich ganz wunderbar.  

insbesondere die Unterwasserszenen haben mir gut gefallen. 

Schön, was Roverandom für Abenteuer erlebt. Wenn ich Kinder hätte, könnte ich mir gut vorstellen, ihnen hieraus vorzulesen.

neilrcoulter's review against another edition

4.0

[b:Roverandom|23617|Roverandom|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1374681558s/23617.jpg|2964446] is a story that [a:J.R.R. Tolkien|656983|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1383526938p2/656983.jpg] told his three young sons during a holiday at the seaside in the 1920s. The story was inspired by the loss of a beloved toy dog. As the editors (and Tolkien scholarship super-gurus) [a:Christina Scull|9497|Christina Scull|https://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-e0ba3b90c110cd67123d6a850d85373e.png] and [a:Wayne G. Hammond|9498|Wayne G. Hammond|https://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-e89fc14c32a41c0eb4298dfafe929b65.png] point out, the story develops and matures as it goes along. The first chapter (or episode) feels very much like a transcript of a story a father tells his children, but by the end of the book Tolkien has, to some extent, brought even Rover into his mythology--even with a brief mention of the Undying Lands of the West.

However, throughout the book Tolkien maintains a lightness of tone and an authorial presence that is much closer to [b:The Hobbit|5907|The Hobbit|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1372847500s/5907.jpg|1540236] than to some of his other works. And I found that Roverandom actually reminded me more of [a:Lewis Carroll|8164|Lewis Carroll|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1192735053p2/8164.jpg]'s [b:Alice|176972|The Annotated Alice The Definitive Edition|Lewis Carroll|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1367782378s/176972.jpg|15777985] stories than anything by Tolkien. There is a lot of wordplay and lighthearted, episodic structure that is different than anything else I've read by Tolkien. I read this to my three sons, and it was great fun, especially with the occasional ridiculously long lists of words that Tolkien includes.

The editors' introduction is essential to understanding the context of Roverandom, and even though it gives away a lot of what happens in the story, I think it's worth reading before looking at the rest of the book for the first time. Also, Scull and Hammond have included a number of helpful notes at the back of the book, explaining some further context and literary references. These notes are not referenced within the text itself, and I wish they would have been. But it is easy enough to check the back of the book occasionally for additional annotation.

lubos's review

1.0

Tolkien bol asi na houbičkách keď to písal...

lukas_arngreb's review against another edition

funny lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

micksland's review against another edition

3.0

I give this three stars not out of any disrespect for Tolkien, but because it is primarily a fairy tale for little kids. This is a great place for a 7 or 8 year old to start reading Tolkien's works, but it's not really for hard-core Tolkienites. Having said that, it does a great job at what it was written for, so I don't have any real complaints other than that.

gittav's review against another edition

4.0

Imagine your parent writes a 200-page story when you lose a toy. Is that a sign children didn't have many toys in the 1920s? Or perhaps that Tolkien really didn't want to go looking for the lost toy and would much rather fantasize? Jotting away for hours, days, just to explain you didn't lose your toy dog, but that it was in fact a real dog, turned into a toy by magic. And this dog had a whole life and purpose outside being your toy. Meeting many wizards, sea creatures, and, of course, a dragon. Changing its name from Rover to Roverandom because it couldn't share this mundane name with the moon dog who was the original Rover. And let's face it, after such adventures, your name can't just be Rover. It's not epic enough.

Here's Daddy Tolkien spending hours writing his escapist fantasy, which is doubtlessly more enjoying and rewarding than explaining how things actually get lost. Rather than telling a child to just get over it (for days) or replace the toy, you tell your upset child the toy is an epic hero and has more important places to be.

P.S. I'm sure Tolkien improvised it and wrote it down later, but if he can fantasise, I can too.

serinde4books's review against another edition

3.0

I actually didn’t enjoy this book, the story was a little too disjointed for me, but I bet my kids would love it. Which is who it is aimed at.
For more reviews see my blog: https://adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com

keifer_lud's review against another edition

5.0

Wow oh wow. ROVERANDOM by J.R.R. Tolkien is about as close to a perfect middle-grade read as you can get. This book read really quickly, and was witty, and action-packed, and involved magic, and frankly, was just plain fun. Apparently Tolkien wrote this book for his son, who was 9-years old at the time. I don't have all that much to critique - it's a book that doesn't take itself too seriously, yet is not flippant with the content either. I'm in love with this book and so happy that I found it. 5 stars!

rodrigolima's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0